The Gift (Klance Fanfic)
by Waterheart9
Summary: On a short trip to an alien Bazaar, Lance finds something that reminds him of Keith. He takes this as an opportunity to visit his friend, and realizes he misses him more than he thought.
1. Chapter 1

"Good morning, Paladins! Today we don't have a mission-well, I guess you could view it as a mission if you really wanted to-but there won't be any galra fighting today!" Coran explained excitedly, pulling up a map of a yellow planet in the observatory. Each Paladin listened intently, save for Pidge and Lance, who were still half-asleep, for they had stayed up all night playing video games.

"We're visiting a friendly planet called Fia. Coran and I would like to discuss some coalition arrangements with their ruler. Each of you could come with me if you'd like, but I'm sure the citizens would be much more excited to meet the great paladins of Voltron," Allura explained, stepping forward and turning to her teammates. This woke Lance up. He loved diplomatic missions like this; the culture, the environment, the fans...Lance particularly enjoyed the fans.

"I made sure to withdraw some Gak so all of you could buy something nice while we're there! Fia is known for its marketplace and amazing products!" Coran added, handing a small bag of coins to each wide-eyed paladin. Lance turned to leave with his newfound alien money, but was quickly interrupted by Allura.

"Oh! And one more thing! The Blade of Marmora will be coming as well. Only Kolivan is allowed to join the meeting, so I'd imagine the other Blade members will be wandering around the market as well. Or doing...whatever it is that the Blade do in their spare time. Anyways, go have fun!" The Altean Princess finished happily, trying to fix her hair a bit as she walked out the automatic doors.

Lance immediately piped up. "I'm gonna buy the coolest alien junk! I could get uh...maybe a dagger or something to keep in my pocket! Or a sweet new coat of paint for my armor. Or some random souvenir doodad that I don't know what it does!" The red paladin ranted as he followed his friends out the door, Pidge and Hunk laughing at his antics as they left. The door shut behind them and the team was off.

The marketplace was unlike anything Lance had ever seen. Pastel blue and pink lantern-like lights hung from the tops of shop roofs, painting the faces of each paladin with a colorful hue. The darkness of night had rolled in, but the market was hardly devoid of life. A wide variety of oddly-shaped alien folk bustled down the dirt path, browsing cheerily and engaging in peppy conversations.

Uncontrollably excited by all the things to see, Pidge and Hunk took off toward a seemingly technology-based sector of the market while Shiro drifted toward the food vendors and Allura and Coran headed toward the main castle at the center of town, leaving Lance to wander on his own. Not quite sure where to start, the red paladin placed his hands behind his head and drifted into the midst of the crowd.

The first booth he came across displayed a wide assortment of colorful stalk-like plants, and the alien running it tended to a bundle of them in the back, facing away from Lance. He ducked under the small shop's fabric canopy, vaguely interested in what the shopkeeper had to sell.

"Hello? Anyone home?" The paladin asked, admiring the products. The shopkeeper, a blue-and-red skinned young girl with long, droopy ears, turned to greet her customer, but upon seeing Lance both her bundle and her jaw dropped.

"Y-you're...oohhh my go-you're a paladin of Voltron!" she squealed. This caught the attention of a few other alien girls nearby, and before he knew it Lance was surrounded by adoring fans. It took several doboshes to escape the screams of joy and the suddenly-swarming crowd to slip away. He kept his hood up after that. As much as he adored the attention, he would never get a chance to look at any items with such a massive fan base trailing behind him.

None of the other booths caught Lance's attention, and he was prepared to just give up and go buy some food when he noticed a violet glow out of the corner of his eye, and then a red one. And a green one. And an orange one. Immediately intrigued, the red paladin approached a small, dark shop he hadn't noticed before, curious to discover the source. A vaguely audible gasp escaped his lips as he gazed at the rows and rows of knives hung up on the wall, each one glowing a different color seemingly on its own accord.

"I see my luminescent knives have caught your attention, my friend," spoke the shopkeeper with a low, soft voice, emerging from seemingly nowhere. Lance gave a frightened squeak upon seeing him at first, for he was immensely tall and his body was so thin that his arm was skinnier than the paladin's finger. Despite his spindly appearance and barf-orange skin tone, his face seemed kind and genuine. Lance quickly turned to a pink knife on the wall, eager to focus on something else.

"Yeah, they're really pretty...and... they remind me of someone..." The red paladin blurted, thinking of Keith and his admiration for knives and swords. At that moment, something clicked in his head. Allura had mentioned earlier that the Blade of Marmora would be at the market. Lance hadn't seen the previous red paladin in a very long time, and it must have been hard for Keith to leave his friends to join the Blade. Surely he was feeling lonely, and probably needed to be reminded that his friends still cared about him.

At that moment, another knife resting on a table grabbed Lance's attention. The blade pulsed a warm red, and painted black swirls decorated the tip. His eyes immediately lit up at the sight of it and suddenly everything fell into place.

Lance could see it now: the knife resting at Keith's hip, Keith pulling it out in the midst of battle and gasping as he remembered how amazing the weapon was, then smiling as he recalled Lance, his super-cool and caring friend who had given it to him, and then feeling a sudden sense of renewed power and strength as he cleanly sliced through enemies.

"Thinking of buying it for someone special? A crush, maybe?" the shopkeeper asked playfully, pulling Lance away from his thoughts. He turned scarlet, though the luminescent blade made it hardly noticeable.

"What? I-oh, no, he's not special-I mean, he is special, but he's not my-he's not-" The shopkeeper raised his hand up, requesting silence. He picked up the knife, gently placed it in a black velvet box, tied a crimson bow around it, and handed it to Lance with a sympathetic smile.

The red paladin stared longingly at the beautiful box, but took one look at the prices of the other knives and gave a sigh, pushing the box back at the shopkeeper.

"It's absolutely perfect but...I...can't afford this...I only have 50 Gak…" he stammered quietly, lowering his head. The shopkeeper stared blankly at the box for a few tics. He then looked at Lance's heartbroken expression and gave a sigh.

"Usually I sell these for 100 Gak, but...I'm willing to bring it down to 50 for you," he bargained, knowing it was a poor way to run a business but not particularly caring. He returned the box to Lance and gave him a smile, ushering him out of the tent. "Now, go! Hurry! Before I change my mind!"

The red paladin practically skipped out of the shop, cradling the gift gently in his hands. Now to find Keith… Though night had fully coated the Bazaar now, the pastel lanterns overhead guided Lance through the still-dense crowd.

It wasn't long before he recognized the familiar lavender glow of standard-regulation Blade outfits belonging to two Galrans slithering through the surge of alien patrons. His heart raced a bit when he spotted a third Blade member join the pair, several inches shorter than the other two. There was only one person in the Blade that was that small. Lance inhaled sharply and opened his mouth to shout.

"Keith!"


	2. Chapter 2

There was no response. Keith made no motion to turn around, and didn't seem to have heard Lance's call. Instead, he removed his mask and joined the conversation between the other two Blade members. Lance's heart raced when he saw his friend laughing and smiling. He hardly ever did either of those things when he had been living in the castle, so why did he seem so happy now?

Lance felt himself slow down for a moment. He had expected Keith to be alone, wandering quietly through the crowds and hoping for someone to approach him. Then Lance would take the opportunity and give Keith both the knife and the gift of his company, and his friend's face would light up with excitement at seeing Lance again. Keith's face glowed with a different kind of excitement now, however. The face of belonging and acceptance. Without Lance.

He came to a complete stop now, extraterrestrial consumers pushing past him and Keith drifting further and further away. With a sigh, the red paladin looked down sadly at the neatly-wrapped box in his hands. Keith didn't need this. He already had a perfectly good Blade of Marmora knife. And perfectly good Blade of Marmora friends, too.

Lance had been stupid to assume that Keith would miss his old team. That he would miss Lance. He clearly felt more comfortable working with the Blade, and was probably learning a lot more about himself and his alien heritage. He had no reason to desire the company of his old friends anymore.

Maybe I'm overthinking it, Lance thought, trying to comfort himself. But maybe I'm not. He clutched the box close to his chest and lowered his head. From the safety of his upturned hood, Lance gave a quiet sniffle, completely unnoticed by the crowd around him. A small tear trickled down his cheek, and he quickly wiped it away with his sleeve. He cursed himself for being such a baby.

"Lance?" came a voice that rang clear among the crowd. Before the red paladin could react, he felt gentle arms embrace his neck in greeting. Soft black hair tickled his chin and nose, and he felt warm, comforting breath on his shoulder.

"Keith?" Lance whimpered quietly, genuinely caught off guard.

"I heard someone call my name and I thought I saw you in the crowd and-oh you have no idea how much I've missed your stupid face," Keith mumbled through Lance's shoulder, nuzzling against his neck. All negative thoughts dissipated from Lance's head and he wrapped his arms tightly around his friend.

"I missed you too, Mullet," he giggled affectionately. When the pair finally pulled away from the hug, Lance handed Keith the black box containing the glowing knife. "We don't really get to see you a whole lot anymore, and, Coran gave us some money to spend, and, well-I just...wanted to get you something so you can...remember me, I guess? I mean-I know we'll see eachother again and stuff, but-" he stammered, face growing hot as he realized just what he was saying. He hadn't spent a whole lot of time thinking this through.

Keith gently pulled at the end of the red ribbon until it came loose, then tugged off the lid and gazed, wide-eyed, at the beautiful, luminescent red blade that lay inside.

"Whoa," he whispered, awestruck by the weapon who's pulsating glow resembled that of a heartbeat. He picked it up and turned it around in his hand, observing it from every angle. He suddenly stopped for a moment, and Lance could tell a thought had crossed his mind. He seemed nervous.

"There's...something I wanted to give you too…" he muttered, cheeks flushing pink. Before Lance had the opportunity to ask what it was, soft lips brushed up against his cheek. The moment was fleeting and ended too soon, but it was the warmest, most comforting thing the red paladin had ever experienced.

When Keith pulled away and noticed Lance's shocked expression, he instantly lowered his head and raised his shoulders in embarrassment.

"I-I'm so sorry, I should have asked first, I-" Lance rubbed a thumb over Keith's soft cheek. He immediately stopped talking.

"No...it's sweet," Lance assured, flashing an encouraging smile. He planted a soothing kiss on Keith's forehead, and the tops of their hoods brushed against each other.

"Do you...do you wanna go somewhere? There are still a bunch of shops I haven't visited yet," Keith suggested after a few moments of quiet. Lance looked at the ground.

"I...don't have any money left...I spent it all on the knife…" Keith looked down at the knife in his hand, then at the suddenly bashful boy in front of him.

"Oh-Lance, you didn't need to waste all your Gak on me…" he chuckled. Lance smiled sheepishly.

"Well-uh-we could at least look around. Plus I have a bit of money so we could buy something if we really wanted to," Keith suggested. The red paladin nodded, signaling for him to lead the way. The pair's fingers interlaced as Keith pulled Lance through the crowd, both boys giggling as they weaved around browsing patrons.

Somewhere nearby, Pidge groaned as she handed Hunk her bag of Gak, the loser of a secret bet on how long it would take for the two paladins to recognize each other as more than rivals. However, despite their excitement about the newly-developing relationship between their friends, the green and yellow paladins did not pursue. They knew perfectly well that the pair would be out all night, and they needed to inform Allura and Coran that Keith and Lance would be staying in the marketplace just a little while longer.


End file.
